Young Macedonian IT Firms Join Forces to Win Major European Bank
Contract
It was a daring move. In September 2005, Infinite Solutions and EuroNetCom, two relatively new Macedonian IT companies, decided to compete for a contract with one of the largest banks in Europe. They found themselves going head-to-head with an experienced and substantially larger Indian firm.
The team’s bold move paid off. Infinite Solutions, along with EuroNetCom, won the contract— not a bad result for companies that started just over two years ago.
This success is the result of teamwork— these two companies are part of an IT consortium brought together through USAID’s Macedonian Competitiveness Activity which works to identify industry “clusters.” EuroNetCom along with three other companies are part of the consortium. Shared marketing efforts, leads, joint applications for contracts and subcontracting arrangements—all of these and more are now possible.
“We developed confidence working with the USAID-supported IT cluster,” says Slagjan Mihajlovski, CEO and co-owner of Infinite Solutions. “The kind of confidence needed to compete.”
Infinite Solutions is a real Macedonian success story, and its CEO is a cheerleader for the digital revolution.
“If the 20th century was the era of electrification, then the 21st century is the era of information. Having a solid information technology system makes the same step difference to a business that electricity would have made 100 years ago,” he says.
The company’s clients include foreign entities and many of Macedonia’s blue chip companies and government institutions. Their portfolio includes a 10-year contract with the largest insurance company, QBE; Macedonian telecommunications; Croatian government institutions; Lufthansa; Siemens Macedonia, Komercijalna Banka and large number of international donor agencies such as USAID implementers. They have completed over 40 projects including developing an e-Procurement system for the Macedonian Government.
While Infinite Solutions is a relatively new company, it wasn’t started from scratch. In 2003, Fujitsu decided to concentrate on the Western European market. They offered their established businesses in Eastern Europe to local partners. Mihajlovski and three others bought out Fujitsu Services Macedonia and renamed it Infinite Solutions, which specializes in developing enterprise systems for the finance, commercial banking, health and state administration sectors. Today the company has 17 on its payroll.
Early on, Mihajlovski heard about an IT Cluster and decided there was strength in numbers. The IT Cluster his company joined was part of USAID’s Macedonian Competitiveness Activity, which works to identify industry “clusters.” EuroNetCom along with three other companies are part of the consortium.
“One of the most valuable aspects of this USAID initiative is that it made Macedonian IT companies start working together,” says Mihajlovski. “While at home we are competitors, when it comes to the global market there are many areas where it makes sense to combine resources such as sales, marketing, training, and development for projects and clients abroad.”
He says that this USAID project has provided the sort of stimulus needed by a new industry, “USAID has really made a difference in Macedonia by working in ways that address the real needs of a growing economy.”
He should know. Before becoming the CEO of Infinite Solutions, Mihajlovski worked on another USAID project called the Macedonian Banking Operations Center. It was through his work on this project that he had his greater exposure to “western” management.
“I developed an entrepreneurial approach to life, and I adopted the American way of working which is very pragmatic. I learned to consider possibilities and think to the future, to set goals.”
Mihajlovski, who has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from a Macedonian University, “Sts. Cyril and Methodius”, has more than 15 years of experience working as an IT Manager, Business Analyst, Project Manager and consultant. But he attributes his decision to take over Fujitsu‘s operation in Macedonia to his USAID project experience.
“We had a vision but also the requisite knowledge and we really believed in ourselves. We knew we could take over and successfully run the company,” says Mihajlovski.
His business philosophy is based on customer service.
“We treat our customers as our partners,” he says. “We believe that open and truthful collaboration with our clients and having a track record of being persistent when it comes to finishing the job is essential for building long term relationships.”
USAID’s Macedonian Competitiveness Activity aims to build the prosperity of the average citizen of Macedonia by helping Macedonian enterprises generate the vision and initiatives that will result in their increased competitiveness in domestic, regional and international markets.
USAID’s Macedonian Competitiveness Activity works with Macedonian enterprises of all sizes, helping them to develop and market complex products and services to command higher prices from demanding customers around the world.
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